Barsha (Namrata Shrestha) arrives in Kathmandu from America with a noble cause of holding a workshop for hearing and speaking impaired people like her. She’s full of herself and the absence of sound in her life hasn’t diminished her self-confidence. This shows as she flaunts her voice through hand gestures. At her workshop, she meets Aman (Arpan Thapa). Aman is exactly the opposite. He has his own issues and is finding it hard to put up with them. He stays distant from his parents, hangs around with shady people, dresses in punk outfits and relentlessly smokes joints. Thus, the heart of the movie is about how they end up liking each other.
To deliver the story of these two individuals, Maun first takes up a typical and apparently worn out boy-meets-girl romantic path. Still it has no dull moments; there are short-lived excitements and enjoyment in the early parts. But when the movie strangely jumps from one event to the other, we are left to settle to a conclusion that is so shameful to the theme that it entirely dislocates itself from the subject matter in hand. From the moment they meet to the events that doom their relationship, it’s all too casual and lacks emotional investment. We realize the hard work the actors have put in learning the sign language and there are no faults in the makers’ intention. What upsets is the paper-thin storyline.
Both the leads get along pleasantly. Namrata, though she looks too good-looking for her part, has such openness in her work that you wonder – with a much more layered script and justified character, she can do wonders in the long run. Arpan, who also penned the film, brings a raw and brooding performance which he’s known for (even with a horrific wig he wears initially). He gets hard on himself; however, he is least convincing in delivering scenes where his character psychologically fights the tortures of his inner demons. And by the time he shuns everything to take vengeance, the state of affairs are so detached from the set-up that it’s impossible to put your faith on the story till the finale.
Director Suraj Bhusal’s Maun has a polished look and a warmth in the way it is shot, so when it does a tonal shift and moves to murky territories, it plays out like an inappropriate move for the flow of the movie and done only because they were running out of content. The second half proceedings are so out of place and hastily down that nobody was prepared for. Yes, the characters are unconventional but the story is nothing novel. Maun fails to communicate!
Film: Maun
Director: Suraj Bhusal
Cast: Arpan Thapa, Namrata Shrestha, Shekhar Chapagain, Durga Baraili
Screening at QFX Cinemas
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